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WEEKLY
Volume 1 Number 7
16 July 2006
So Shall Ye Be My Disciples
(Message delivered by Pr Hien Nguyen at the Sunday
Worship Service, 2 pm, July 9, 06)
Text:
John 15:8
In our lives we used to be a
pupil, a student, or a learner. Some of us here are still students.
While we are students, we do need a teacher. Some clever and talented
people can teach themselves to learn a language like English or French,
to get a skill as a watch repairer or a carpenter, or to play a musical
instrument. A student or a learner is expected to get the knowledge or
skills he has been taught by his teacher or instructor.
The term “disciple” in the
Bible means more than a mere pupil or learner. It is an adherent who
accepts the instruction given to him and makes it his rule of conduct (Zodhiates
Spiros, The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament). The
Bible tells us about the disciples of John the Baptist (Matt 11:2), the
disciples of the Pharisees (Mark 2:18), and Moses’ disciples (John
9:28).
Besides the special group of
“the twelve” disciples (Matt 8:21) and later “the eleven” after Judas
Iscariot’s betrayal (Mark 16:14), whom our Lord Jesus called, chose,
ordained and named apostles (Mark 3:14; Luke 6:13), our Lord Jesus also
has called many others, even us today, to be His disciples in general
sense. Our Lord Jesus says, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my
disciples indeed” (John 8:31) and here in John 15:8, “Herein is my
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples,”
in future tense, to all believers even to us today.
My dear friends, would you
like to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ? It is a great privilege
to be a disciple of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, our Creator, our
Maker, and our King. Are you and I ashamed to be His disciples?
Glorifying God by Bearing
Much Fruit
John
15 is very familiar to most of us, and we have known that our Lord Jesus
Christ is our true Vine, our true Source of spiritual life, love,
wisdom, strength, and power.
It is vital for each of us to
keep in touch with Him all the time, relying on Him, looking unto Him,
trusting in Him, submitting to Him and His Word so that we may bear
fruit, more fruit and much fruit as without Him we cannot produce any
good and true fruit.
My dear
friends, are you and I bearing much fruit for God’s glory? Our God the
Father is our Divine Gardener and He is only happy, satisfied, and
glorified when we bear much fruit. That is the reason why He takes time,
attention, and care in purging, trimming, disciplining, correcting,
chastening us so that we may bear more fruit and much fruit for His
glory. Let us give thanks to God even when we are chastised and purged
through our difficulties, troubles, trials and failures so that we may
be more humble, dependent on and submissive to our Lord Jesus Christ and
to God’s Perfect Word the Bible more and more.
We also
learn that the fruit God expects us to bear is to be conformed to the
image of our Lord Jesus Christ and to be like Him (Rom 8:29; 1 John
3:2), to have the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Gal
5:22-23), and to be partakers of His holiness (Heb 12:10; Rom 6:22). My
dear friends, do you and I bear such fruit to glorify our God? May the
Lord help us to be more and more humbly dependant on and submissive to
Him and His Word so that we may bear much fruit to glorify our God.
The Cost
to be Jesus’ Disciples
Our Lord
Jesus Christ expects us to bear much fruit to be His disciples. Today He
still requires us just to follow Him through the guidance of the Holy
Spirit and His Word as He required His disciples
before, “Follow
me” (Matt 4:19; 9:9). What matters is whether we are willing to
follow Him wholeheartedly with our full commitment, love, loyalty,
faithfulness, obedience, and submission. Our Lord Jesus Christ does not
count the quantity but the quality.
Many
religious leaders nowadays are so proud of their big congregation up to
thousands or even tens of thousands of members, but the most important
is whether they are true disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is easy
for our Lord Jesus Christ to attract many people to follow Him by His
miracles just to feed them and heal them but He did not do so. He does
require the commitment, faithfulness, loyalty and submission of His
disciples, and He will not lower His expectations and standard. Jesus
says that the narrow way which leads to life, and few people find it
(Matt 7:14). When many disciples murmured about Jesus’ teaching and then
“went back and walked no more with Him,” our Lord did not run after them
to please them, but even challenged His twelve disciples, “Will ye also
go away?” (John 6:60-68). My dear friends, we are to count the cost and
willing to pay any cost to be disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
that cost is to follow Jesus faithfully unto death.
The Lord
Jesus Christ did not teach His disciples to do what He had not done. Our
Lord had a clear purpose in His life. He humbled Himself and came into
the world to give His life, to serve and not to be served, to bear
witness of the truth, to seek and do His Father’s will, to glorify His
Father, and to obey His Father unto death for the salvation of mankind.
He prayed to His Father, “Not my will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22:42).
He said to His disciples, “I have given you an
example,
that ye should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15), and Peter later
encouraged Christians, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ
also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow
his steps”(1 Peter 2:21). Then what is the cost to follow our
Lord Jesus and His steps?
Take
up the cross and follow Him.
As our Lord is holy and
righteous while we are sinners with sinful desires and selfish ambition,
He expects us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him,
saying, “He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not
worthy of me” (Matt 10:38), “If any man will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and
follow me” (Luke 9:23). To take up our cross and deny
ourselves mean to be willing to die to our “self,” our selfishness,
self-will, self-ambition, self-glory, self-centred, self-importance,
self-love, self-indulgence, even our self-righteousness, and so forth in
order to submit to God’s will, “Not I, but Christ” (Gal 2:20). It also
means to be willing to die to sinful lusts (Gal 5:24) and to the world
with all worldly attractions and pleasures (Gal 6:14). My dear friends,
are you and I willing to pay the cost to be disciples of our Lord? Let
us deny ourselves and take up our cross daily to follow our Lord
faithfully unto death.
Love God
above all with full obedience.
Our Lord
still requires those who want to be His disciples, “If any man come to
me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and
brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my
disciples” (Luke 14:26). Does our Lord contradict Himself and God’s
commandments or does He require too much? God forbid! The Bible teaches
us to honour our parents and love
our neighbours as ourselves,
and our Lord Jesus teaches the same (Deut 5:16; Lev 19:18; Matt
19:18-19; 22:36-40), but God still requires everyone to love Him above
all, “Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind” (Luke
10:27). Our Lord Jesus did honour Joseph and Mary (Luke 2:51; John
19:26-27), but He did love God above all by only doing God’s will
according to His timing (Matt 12:47-50; John 2:4; 7:3-8). Then Jesus
requires His disciples to love God and obey Him above all, “He that
loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt 10:37).
Peter tried to discourage Jesus from doing God’s will. Jesus rebuked him
severely (Matt 16:21-23). As far as God’s will is concerned, Jesus’
disciples are required to love God’s will above all and to hate even
their loved ones’ will and their own will that may prevent them from
doing God’s will or draw them away from God (Deut 13:6-11). Our Lord
Jesus also confirms that he who loves Him is to keep His commandments
and His words (John 14:21, 23). My dear friends, are you and I willing
to be disciples of our Lord Jesus? May God help us to love and obey Him
and His Word above all.
Be
committed, loyal and faithful.
Our Lord Jesus Christ requires
His disciples to be committed, loyal and faithful to Him and His Word
unto death: “No man can serve two masters” (Matt 6:24), “Be thou
faithful unto death; and I will give thee a crown
of life” (Rev 2:10). “If ye continue in my word, then are
ye my disciples indeed” (John 8:31). The word “continue” here is the
same original word as “abide, remain, continue” in John 15 and “endure”
in 1 Peter 1:25, “But the word of the Lord endureth for
ever.” This word conveys the idea of being faithful to and persevering
with God’s Word unto the end. My dear friends, are you and I willing to
be true disciples of our Lord? May God help us to be committed, loyal
and faithful to Him and His Word until death.
The Rewards of Discipleship
Surely,
the rewards of discipleship outweigh the cost as nothing in this world
is worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us
(Rom 8:18). When we faithfully follow our Lord Jesus Christ as His
disciples, we shall receive His training to become “fishers of men”
(Matt 4:19), become like Him (1 John 3:2), have His light of life (John
8:12), have the Holy Spirit, His teaching and guidance (John 14: 26;
16:13), have our names written in
heaven (Luke 10:20), inherit
everlasting life (Matt 19:29), be acknowledged as His family members
(Matt 12:49), be with Him and honoured by God the Father (John 12:26),
and receive His reward at His coming (Rev 22:12).
Conclusion
My dear
friends, are you and I willing to count all things but loss in order to
bear much fruit and to be disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
willingly to pay any cost to follow Him and His Word faithfully,
loyally, obediently unto death? Then when our Lord Jesus comes, we shall
never be regretful but happy to receive all the rewards He has reserved
for His faithful and true disciples and servants. The Lord Jesus knows
that without Him we cannot do anything. When we are truly determined to
follow Him, His grace is always sufficient for us step by step until the
end. Praise the Lord! Amen.
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